Rejection
by Queen of Leaves
Summary: The steel in her eyes astonishes him. He is used to her being soft. Sasusaku, M for content.


_The premise of this story is that Sasuke has finally returned to Konoha only to realize that he cannot so easily repair the bonds he has severed. I went through and edited a few lines after publication, so some dialogue has been tweaked._

_Rejection_

It frightens him to see the hatred he carries reflected back at him through her eyes. They are no longer the expressive orbs that reminded him of fresh green apples. They are dark and deep and mistrustful.

"Sakura."

Even her name seems different.

"Why are you here, Sasuke?" Her voice, barely above a whisper, contains a thread of barely restrained rage.

"I wanted to talk to you. Now that I'm back in Konoha, I'm looking for direction."

Her lips turn downward at his hokey reply. Part of the agreement for his reinstatement as a Konoha ninja was that he make attempts to repair the damage he had done to the city and its people.

Unwisely, Sasuke had started with her.

She puts down the book she was holding. Even though he had waited quietly for her attention for five minutes, she had not turned a page once she detected his presence.

"You want direction? Fine. Get the hell out of my ouse," she whispers.

"It's raining."

Her eyebrow raises ironically. "Like you'll melt."

"You think I messed up. Okay, fine. But the Hokage has let me back into the village. Why can't you accept that?"

She picks up the book again and resumes her staring.

Sasuke takes the opportunity to look around. There are many books like the one she is reading.

"Still the bookworm. I hope you've gained some actual field experience."

Her eyes are on him in a flash and he is struck by the hardness in them. The steel in her eyes astonishes him. He is used to her being soft.

"I can kill you in ten different ways without moving from this chair, Sasuke."

"Why haven't you?"

She frowns again and brushes a strand of pink hair from her eyes. She has kept it short all these years.

"Sakura?"

She doesn't answer.

"Do you remember the night I left Konoha?"

Her lips tighten a bit, but she does not look away from her book.

"It's been seven years, Sasuke."

He smiles. "You remember."

She scoffs. "Barely."

He takes a step forward until he could reach out and touch her hair.

"You said you would do anything for me."

"That was a long time ago."

He kneels before her, urging her to put down the book at look at him, really look at him.

"You said I taught you about the pain of loneliness."

Again, he is unprepared by the hatred in her eyes.

"And I learned there are worse things than loneliness," she snaps.

"And you said you loved me."

His dark eyes meet hers and slowly he sets his chin on her knee, never breaking his gaze.

She softens. Her hand moves as if to brush his cheek.

And then she hits him with her book.

He stumbles back into one of her bookshelves. The tall oak shelf, unaccustomed to being accosted, collapses, covering Sasuke with books.

He throws his hands over his head, trying to guard himself and then Sakura's hands are on his collar, pulling him from the literary deathtrap and throwing him to the ground.

He opens his eyes and she is straddling him, a blade at his throat. He can sense chakra building in her hand.

"Are you going to kill me and then heal me, Sakura?" he taunts, wanting to see some glimpse of the butterfly girl that playfully circled him all those lifetimes ago.

He doesn't flinch as the blade tip enters his throat, drawing a thin line of blood.

Her breathing is even. Her movements are measured. She is in complete control of herself and it is killing him.

"Do you want to hurt me?"

Her eyes widen a bit. He finds it impossible that she has never considered the possibility.

"Go ahead. Make me pay for my crimes. Hurt me. Kill me. Do something, Sakura!" he says, his voice rising. Her control is undoing his own careful restraints and he doesn't know how to react.

"Do you have any idea what we've been through?" she whispers, lowering her head so that she is almost nose to nose with him. "You leave us. We get a trace of you and hunt you down only to miss you by a day. And then we find out you've started a fucking war."

Her voice wavers. He moves beneath her, encouraging her further confession.

"Do you know the pain I suffered with you gone? I was the woman who loved you and you were off doing horrible things. I wanted to be with you, Sasuke!" Her words are faster now.

She throws the knife away and wraps her hands around his throat.

"I felt I wasn't good enough for you. If you had really wanted me, you would have taken me with you. Maybe I could have stopped you. But you–you had to do it alone," she snaps, tightening her grip a bit.

"You know what's worse than loneliness, Sasuke? Rejection. You stepped on me, you completely disregarded any kind of friendship we had and now you're here expecting me to forgive you?"

He gasps as her hands release him. She rises to her feet and stands elegantly over him.

"Now I'm rejecting you, Sasuke. Don't speak to me again."

He sits up slowly. Even seeing her in battle, he always worried that her injuries would overcome her and put her out of the fight.

Now she is battle-hardened steel and he is helpless against her.

It tantalizes him.

"You never said you don't love me," he replies, giving her a hint of a smirk.

Before he can gauge her reaction, she has kicked him square in the chest, sending him through her front door and into the street.

He is barely on his feet before she has lunged into the rain, pummeling him with her fists.

This is what he wanted. Her emotions. Her rage. This is what he knows.

This is the happiness she promised him.

"Is this what you want, Sakura? To fight me?"

He can hear the rain slapping her skin, but she is moving too fast for him to judge her movement.

He closes his eyes and opens them. With his bloodline limit, he can see her clearly. One punch catches her off balance and she falls to the ground.

It is his turn to straddle her.

She gasps. The rain is cold and seeping through her clothes. Now that her anger is fading, she can feel the pain where he punched her.

Her knuckles are sore too.

"You've got a good punch, Sakura," he says. He is panting from exertion.

"Get off me."

He lowers his face until he mirrors her previous position.

"No."

The tip of his nose brushes hers as she struggles against him.

"Tell me you don't love me and I'll go. You'll never have to look at me again."

She pushes futilely against his grasp.

"I mean it. Say you hate me and I'll leave. If that's what it takes to make up for what I did, I'll do it."

"You're agreeable," she says, trying to get a foot free so she can flip him.

He lays flat over her and despite her chill, she feels a blush rise to her cheeks.

"Get off me," she says again.

"Say you don't love me and I will."

His blood is rushing through his veins. Their brief sparring has awakened his passion for her, a passion he thought he had stifled long ago.

She shifts beneath him and he is acutely aware that she no longer resembles the twelve year old girl she used to be.

"Sasuke," she breathes.

He can't move his face any closer to hers without kissing her.

"Yes?"

"You're getting rain in my eyes," she says, smiling at him for the first time since his return.

He groans slightly and sits up.

"Sorry," he mutters.

She climbs to her feet and walks into her house, pausing to nudge the broken front door with her foot.

"Do you want a towel?"

"That depends. Are you going to try and kill me?"

She turns to face him.

"How badly do you want a towel?" she asks, retrieving one from a cabinet and running it over her legs.

He finds it difficult to swallow.

More so when she peels off her ruined clothing and climbs the stairs to finish cleaning herself.

Unable to speak, Sasuke follows her into her bedroom. With the rainclouds obscuring the moon, it takes a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they do, he finds her naked but for the towel casually draped over her front.

"I don't hate you, Sasuke. But why did you follow me upstairs?"

His mouth is dry. "I need a towel."

She hands him hers.

"I only used half."

Slowly, Sasuke undresses, never taking his eyes off her naked body.

Together, they stand naked. Her hair is still wet, sending heavy drops trickling down her skin, but it is her eyes that captivate him. They are no longer hard, cold reflections of the hatred he carried for so long.

He narrows his own eyes just a bit. Her pupils are dilated.

This is his chance to regain control.

He runs the towel over his chest before stretching to dry his back. She watches him, her head tilted slightly to the side.

Slowly he unzips his pants, the smooth movement peeling his underwear off with them. He stands before her completely naked.

"Sakura. You're blushing."

"Am not."

He steps closer to her until she has to tilt her neck to meet his gaze. He is afraid to touch her, to break the peaceful spell that has settled over them.

"You can look if you want," he says, a devilish smile rising to his lips.

"Cad."

She does look though.

"You have toes."

He chuckles lightly. "So do you."

Slowly her eyes trace up his body, never pausing in their slow ascent until she meets his eyes.

"I don't hate you," she says again and he understands. She cannot yet say she loves him. This is as much of a confession as he's going to get.

He drops the towel and grabs her face between his hands. The press of his lips is warm, insistent.

Finally, she kisses him back, running her fingers through his wet hair and tugging just hard enough to make him growl.

"You like it rough, then?" he asks, moving his lips to her neck and nibbling.

She bites back a moan. "There's another way?"

His smile is predatory as he pushes her against the wall and grabs her hips. With no clothing in the way, she knows his fingers will leave bruises.

In response, she digs her nails into his back. He can feel the blood spring up in little crescents as she drags her nails to his ass and pulls him toward her.

He groans as his erections brushes by her wet folds. She grinds against him and his control snaps. He lifts one of her legs and rubs himself against her until he is slick with her wetness.

He notices her breathing is no longer even.

She bites him as he thrusts inside her. He's not trying to be gentle as he lifts her completely off the ground and fucks her into the wall.

She suppresses her moans as best she can. The room is mostly silent except for the creak of the wall and the slick noises he makes as he pulls out of her.

"Sakura," he pants. "I know you're enjoying this."

"You're alright," she says, rotating her hips so that he is deeper inside her.

He is completely still but for his mouth, slowly reforming her word.

She is not sure if he will stay or leave now.

He pulls out of her and lets her regain her footing before he goes to sit on the edge of her bed.

Had she been too rough for him?

"You," he says finally, "are going to regret that."

She doesn't see him move but suddenly she is pulled onto the bed. He is over her, his hands on either side of her chest.

A shift in his position and he is inside her again. This time, his hand is free to seek her clit and when he finds it, he pinches the sensitive nerve ending, making her gasp.

"I am going to make you scream," he growls, rubbing her clit between his fingers as he thrusts deep inside her.

She bites her lip and he kisses her, forcing her to release her moans into his mouth.

"Stop holding back or I'll leave right now. I know you want this as much as I do."

It's the only way he can think to tell her that he needs her. He needs to hear his name issue forth from those swollen pink lips. He needs to explode inside her and have her cling to him, wanting more.

He needs her acceptance.

Her green eyes are almost eclipsed by her pupils.

"Please. Sakura."

She wraps her legs around him. "Fuck me, Sasuke."

It is all the motivation he needs. The bed creaks and protests beneath him as he pounds her into the mattress. Her arms wrap around his neck and pull him closer and he can hear her whispering his name over and over like a mantra. She is tight around him and clenches so that it is almost impossible for him to pull out of her.

He rubs her clit again and, with his head so close to her mouth, he hears her hiss with pleasure. Her noises begin to draw together as she nears her orgasm. He quickens his movements and is rewarded by a long, drawn out moan as she comes. He gasps and buries himself deep inside her as his own orgasm takes over.

It is silent but for their breathing.

Slowly, he moves to pull out of her. She responds by tightening the grip of her legs.

"Stay."

He obeys.

Her face is red from exertion, but the small smile on her face is one of triumph.

They will both be sore in the morning.

"Do you want me to fix your back?"

He presses his lips against her neck before spreading out over her.

"Leave it."

She nods, drowsy now.

Sasuke, nuzzled against her neck, is already asleep.

Briefly, she wonders if she should kill him while he sleeps. She remembers the many times she studied his face while he was asleep. The instances where he slept soundly were few and far between.

But he is completely peaceful as he rests against her.

She allows herself to drift into slumber as well. There will be a lot to talk about in the morning, but under the veil of rain and night, she is willing to accept him into her life again.

He mumbles her name in his sleep, but she does not hear it.

She is already dreaming peaceful dreams.

_Fin_


End file.
